When the weather is dry, humidifiers are used at home, but many parents worry that using a humidifier for their children will not let their children inhale dirt into their lungs, especially in 2021 In 2008, there was a news report that in a family in Handan, Hebei, three children were sent to the hospital because of bronchitis and pneumonia caused by using a humidifier.
So, can using a humidifier cause pneumonia?
To make this clear, two things need to be made clear:
What is pneumonia?
Why might humidifiers cause pneumonia?
What is pneumonia?
Pneumonia is a respiratory disease that occurs easily in infants and young children under the age of 2. It is an inflammation of the lungs caused by bacterial, viral, fungal, parasite and other microbial infections. The typical symptoms of pneumonia are cough, fever, and difficulty breathing.
Infants and the elderly with low immunity are more likely to get pneumonia after being infected by bacteria.
If the child has a fever of more than 38 degrees and persists for three or four days, it is necessary to consider whether it is pneumonia.
Why might humidifiers cause pneumonia?
Don’t jump to the conclusion that humidifiers can definitely cause pneumonia.
The most suitable humidity for human habitation is 40%–60%. When the air is relatively dry, many people choose to buy a household humidifier.
Humidifiers can indeed change the humidity of the air and keep the air always humid, but the favorite environment for bacteria is humid places, so if the humidifier is used for too long and is not cleaned carefully, A lot of bacteria will accumulate.
So when the humidifier starts to work, the bacteria that grows spreads into the air along the spray, and then floats in the air. The elderly and children with weak resistance will inadvertently inhale. Many bacteria, bacteria enter the respiratory tract and begin to multiply and grow into the lungs. If they are not effectively “intercepted”, they will cause lung damage.
Are you scared to turn off the humidifier? In fact, this shows that you did not read the article carefully.
One of the factors associated with humidifiers causing pneumonia is long-term use without cleaning, which allows bacteria to grow and multiply.
If used properly, it is completely avoidable and keeps the air moist, which is good for your health.
So, what should be the correct use of a humidifier?
Don’t use tap water, use purified water
Many people add tap water directly to the humidifier in order to save trouble.
Usually using tap water will have a lot of scale. If it is directly added to the humidifier, it will be difficult to handle and bacteria will grow more easily when the scale is formed.
Use pure water as much as possible.
Don’t put “scents” in your humidifier
Many people like all kinds of “essential oils” and “aromatherapy”, and will add these products to the humidifier. In fact, adding other substances to the humidifier not only cannot be disinfected, but also releases various Bacterial floaters.
In addition, the density of “aromatherapy” and “essential oil” is high. After being released, the particles of toxic substances are suspended in the air. People with low resistance will inhale these harmful substances into the lungs after being exposed to them. , damage the original defense mechanism of the lung, easily lead to lung injury or pneumonia. Especially in children, various organs are not fully developed, and these can easily enter the lungs and cause damage.
Don’t use it for a long time, use it on and off
Because the air is dry and use a humidifier, many people have the habit of running it overnight, and they always feel that running it overnight can keep the air moist all the time.
This is not correct. If the humidifier is turned on for a long time, the ambient humidity around the humidifier will be too high. When the humidity exceeds 80%, it is easy to breed bacteria.
Our human body isThe commonly accepted humidity is 50%–60%, so too high humidity will affect the health of the body.
Clean regularly
The humidifier has been used for a long time, and the bacteria hidden in it will enter the room with water vapor and aerosol. People with weak resistance inhale these bacteria and enter the lungs. It can easily cause pneumonia or lung damage.
The water in the humidifier must be changed on time, do not wait until it is used up and add it, change it once a day.
Water containers should be cleaned once a week if possible.
Filter replacement too
Nowadays, many humidifiers on the market are equipped with filter elements, which generally have a service life of three months. When the time is up, a new one will be replaced.
If it is an old humidifier and the bacteria in it cannot be completely cleaned, buy a new one.
It should be noted that there is now an antibacterial humidifier on the market, which also needs to be cleaned.
So, the humidifier is not the culprit when the child has pneumonia, the real culprit may be “lazy”.